When I briefly owned a Yaesu FT710 I tried 4m FT8 and was copied all over the UK and mainland Europe despite not having a "proper" antenna and loading up my 2m big-wheel via the auto ATU. Outside the Es season activity was very disappointing. I was surprised.
Also, it is a pity we don't have the WARC 60m band like many others. Many are probably put off by the "bitty" nature of the UK allocations. No doubt we share this with the military who keep saying "no". I bet if we look at all the bands kept "just in case" for the UK military, it would be huge chunks of spectrum.
I fail to understand why radio amateurs cannot gain limited secondary access to some of these with very low power, by NoV, and us being asked to go QRT at any time there was heightened tension, war or interference. After all they know our callsigns and location! In the meantime huge swathes of spectrum ripe for experimentation stay fallow.
If you ask me .... stupid.
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